Chronometer

Description

Two-day marine chronometer with an Earnshaw type spring detent escapement, housed in a brass-bound mahogany box, slung in gimbals, by Robert Bryson, Edinburgh, c. 1850

Museum reference

T.1981.2

Collection

History of Science

Object name

Chronometer, Box

Production information

Bryson, Robert, 1778 - 1852, Chronometer maker
Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, Northern Europe

Date

c. 1850

Materials

Brass, Mahogany

Physical description

Brass, glass, mahogany, steel, and jewelled bearings

Associations

Earnshaw, Thomas, 1749 - 1829

Exhibitions

• Earth in Space (29 Jul 2011)
  National Museum of Scotland

• Shining Lights: The story of Scotland's Lighthouses (15 Oct 2010 - 03 Apr 2011)
  Museum of Scotland

References

T.N. Clarke et al., Brass & Glass: Scientific Instrument Making Workshops in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1989, pp 112-22

Betts, Jonathan, 'Arnold and Earnshaw: the practicable Solution,' in W.J.H. Andrewes (ed.), The Quest for Longitude, Harvard, 1996, pp 311-28

Bennett, J.A., The Divided Circle: a History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation and Surveying, Oxford, 1987, pp184-187

On display

national museum of scotland »
level 1 »
natural world, earth in space »
space (navigation)